Summer Woods

Summer Woods

30" x 40"  - acrylic on canvas - $700

Since the beginning of July I have been living in my 'cabin in the woods on a lake' in the wilds of Haliburton County, about 3 hours north of Toronto. The weather had been mostly unseasonal, unfortunately, but at least it has not interfered with painting. I started this canvas a few weeks ago and it evolved slowly in terms of composition, palette and brushwork to its final form. And I am finally, very happy with it.  The overall colours and especially the yellows, pinks, and reds are actually a little brighter than what you see here and the background purples (on right) are slightly greyer and lighter in value. I tried my best to correct these on photoshop, and this is about the best I can do. 

The sun is shining today and no rain is predicted for at least 24 hours, so I think I will put aside the brushes today and venture forth to the dock and water and do battle with the biting flies. Have a great weekend, wherever you may be.

30 in 30: Day 29 - Yellow Field

Yellow Field

10" x 10" - acrylic on canvas - $50

This painting is based on a photo I took last October, on our drive home from the cottage, north of Toronto. I particularly liked the composition with its verticals and varying horizontal divisions of fore, middle and background space, all of which seemed to make for good compositional elements.

 In fact I have tried to paint this several times, but did not like any of the results until today. Maybe third time lucky, or a better palette choice, or painting with the palette knife allowed me to achieve the texture that I couldn't seem to get with the brush. Anyway, here is #29 in the 30 in 30 challenge. One more to go..... 

30 in 30: Day 24 - Autumn

Haliburton Highlands Autumn

8" x 9.5" -  watercolour & acrylic on canva paper - $30

For day # 24 in the 30 paintings in 30 day challenge I am posting this one inspired by a photo I took last October while 'up north' in Ontario.  

Painting The Colours of Autumn - Klondike Road Meadow

Klondike Road Meadow

13" x 17"  - acrylic on Canson Canva Paper  - SOLD

Earlier this month I spent a few days at my cottage in the Haliburton area. The fall colours of the tree foliage, sumac, and vegetation were incredible ranging from dark purple-reds through orange-reds, yellow-greens, dark greens and all shades of yellow and orange. This meadow is on Klondike Road and it just had to be painted.  

Northern Escape Abstract

Northern Escape Abstract
30" x 36"  acrylic on canvas  SOLD

This is the second painting based on a small drawing of a typical Haliburton Highlands/Ontario cottage country landscape - and one that I had a lot of fun painting. When I began the painting I wanted to restrict my usual exuberant palette to one that was more muted and neutral, but because I always try to pay attention to what the painting needs as it proceeds, and not to some pre-conceived plan, that idea was abandoned fairly quickly. I thought about adding 'real' texture, but the decided the paint splatters would have to do. I did a lot of drawing back into the painting with soft pastels, which I then fixed with  Spectra Fix  - a wonderful, non-toxic, very safe and easy to use product that anyone who works with pastels or charcoal should try. I am quite happy with this work - it's big and bold - just like what it represents.  Cheers!

Spring Awakening

Spring Awakening
22" x 28" acrylic on canvas
SOLD

This 'variation on a theme' is a marsh view in the Haliburton area of Ontario (along highway 118), given a spring colour makeover. Spring seems to have finally arrived in this part of the world - the air is fresh, the sun is warm and flowers are blooming. Not sure if the ice is off of our lake just yet - but cottage time is just around the corner. Yeah!

Redstone River Recollect

In previous posts I have mentioned that I spend the summer months in Haliburton. We have a small cottage on a large island on Redstone Lake, a beautiful pristine lake that is clean, deep and utterly rejuvenating. Driving to and from the boat landing we pass the Redstone River which connects our lake with Eagle Lake next door. Though this river is really not much more than a stream as it is shallow and its' width varies throughout the season, I am always fascinated by how it curves and meanders towards the road.  It is one of my favourite views in Haliburton and each time I see it, we have to stop the car so I can take more pictures of it.
I have painted this river several times now as I am inspired with each new photo and of course the changes that appear with each new season. I just finished the latest variation on this theme four days ago and here it is:

A Summer Day on the Redstone River    24" x 30"   SOLD

Here is a slightly different view I started last spring, and finally finished in September. I love the different palette temperatures - how the warm yellows, oranges and pinks suggest a summer afternoon in the painting above while the acidic yellow greens suggest a spring morning in the painting below.

Almost There   24" x 36"  SOLD

During a workshop I conducted this fall for SOYRA (the Society of York Region Artists) on how to use soft pastel with acrylic paints, I used this subject for my demonstration. I actually did two versions, both much more stylized and looser (and smaller) than the larger paintings above. 

River Encore I    16" x 20"

River Encore II     16" x 20"

And the last one I want to include in this collection is a landscape I included in one of my first posts, and my first painting based on this subject:

August Afternoon on the Redstone River    30"x30" sold

I love this subject and I am sure I will work on it again. What do you think about using the same subject again and again?

Crazy Schedule

I'm back! Getting this blog off the ground has been a long process, and as you may have noticed, not very regular, yet. My only excuse is that life has been hectic in the last few months - getting our home of 26 years ready to sell - and now it is sold and we are planning the 'next steps'. And I just started two new painting series - one which features the same abstract figure, and the other, still life objects,  that for a lack of a better description, 'fade in and out' on the surface. More to come on these later.
Now, back to the landscapes of last summer. I really like them - hope you do too.

Spring Light   30"x30"

Wetlands  24"x30" 

Hot Day in July  30"x36" SOLD

Seeing Red  18"x24"

Blue Marsh  24"x30"

At the End of the Day  20" x 24"

Hopefully you can see the pastel lines on the surface of the paintings. I started using soft pastel over acrylic, and throughout the painting process in the first landscape series, but this summer this technique really began to dominate, and helped me to stay loose. And I finally discovered a great, non toxic, completely natural fixative spray fixative called SpectraFix.   

What do think?